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A POPULAR Samsung model, which claims to be 'water-resistant', has failed a water immersion test, according to a respected product review site.The Samsung Galaxy S7 Active is advertised as being airtight but when the handset was put in a tank, which simulated the effect of being about 5ft underwater, it stopped working.Consumer Reports, a leading product review site, repeated the test with another device and when it was removed it was also found to be damaged.After half an hour, both the Samsung Galaxy S7 Actives were removed from the water and the display screens were non-responsive with green lines across them.Both camera lenses were also found to have bubbles formed over them.According to the mobile phone company's website, the models, which are currently only available in the US, are IP68-certified.The international rating states that the handset can officially cope with "continuous immersion in water".Consumer Reports, who hit the headlines in 2010 after they picked … [Read more...] about ‘Water-resistant’ Samsung Galaxy S7 Active fails a water immersion test, says leading product review site

"On the security front, the entire NATO exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life, and no gains because the country is not secure." These are the words of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, criticizing NATO in a BBC interview published on October 7 for failing to bring stability to Afghanistan in over a decade after the US-led invasion of his country. These claims, however, were sharply rejected by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen who said in a press conference that the war-torn country has come a long way in the past decade: "The changes have been remarkable, and our investment in lives and resources has been unprecedented. Nobody can deny that. And these efforts should be respected." The primary objective of the ISAF mission has been to enable the Afghan government to provide "effective security" across the war-torn nation and develop forces to ensure that the country can "never again become a safe haven for terrorists." However, … [Read more...] about Has NATO’s ISAF mission in Afghanistan failed?

When it was announced in January that Agrokor was on the verge of collapsing under the weight of its huge debts, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic (pictured above) quickly passed a law freeing public moneys to bail out the ailing firm. Nicknamed 'Lex Agrokor,' the law - subsequently emulated in other Balkan countries where Agrokor is present - set up a form of bankruptcy protection for systemic enterprises. But it also created - or perhaps just reinforced - the sense of business as usual, that political and business insiders were - still - looking after each others' interests. “To protect the sustainability of business operations in companies of systemic significance for Croatia during financial and business restructuring, the government adopted the current law to establish new financial liquidity. All creditors are invited to report their claims by June 10,” Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Martina Dalic told DW. It … [Read more...] about Croatia’s Agrokor business empire too big to fail?

Juergen Stark told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that "weak banks should be allowed to disappear from the market" when asked by the German newspaper whether he believed the ECB should try to save banks in peril. "Bad management must be sanctioned," he said. "A rescue is justified only when there is a threat to the entire financial system." On the subject of weaker euro zone economic activity, Stark told the newspaper that the situation should be temporary. Weak euro zone situation "temporary", says Stark "For me, a phase of weakening and a progressive convalescence is the most likely scenario," Stark said, as German economic indicators showed Europe's biggest economy was headed for rough times. "After the German economy began the year with a bang, that was to be expected. I nonetheless foresee more than a simple correction." German inflation hit 3.3 percent in July, the highest level in 15 years, but dipped slightly in August to 3.1 percent. … [Read more...] about ECB’s Top Economist Says Weak Banks Should be Allowed to Fail

What do Samsung in Berlin, AEG in Nuremberg and Conti in Hanover have in common? They are all companies where management centers, group bosses and even profitable production plants have pulled up stakes and moved out of Germany. The rates of pay commanded by cheaper labor in Eastern Europe and South East Asia have got a lot of executives asking themselves why they should still produce in Germany. Could it be that Germany will soon become, not only the export world champion when it comes to goods but also the global leader when it comes to exporting workforces? There was a time when fathers would scare their children by saying the monsters under the bed would get them if they didn't eat their greens. These days, it could be the story of how other countries could threaten Germany by turning it into a "bazaar" economy where trade is everything because it produces nothing. These stories have been circulating for some time, aided and abetted by trade federations' releasing … [Read more...] about Study: Moving Production Abroad Can Have Positive Effect

Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar and Lao PDR rose to 63,800 hectares (ha) in 2014 compared to 61,200 ha in 2013, increasing for the eighth consecutive year and nearly tripling the amount harvested in 2006, according to a report published on December 8 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The paper, titled Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2014 - Lao PDR, Myanmar, states that Myanmar remains Southeast Asia's top opium producer - and the world's second largest after Afghanistan. Together, Myanmar and Lao PDR produced an estimated 762 metric tons of opium, most of which - using smuggled precursor chemicals like acetyl anhydride - was refined into an estimated 76 tons of heroin and then trafficked to markets in neighboring countries and outside the region. Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, says in a DW interview that not only is the heroin from the "Golden Triangle" - the area adjoining Myanmar, Laos and Thailand - … [Read more...] about Opium production soars in Southeast Asia

Following North Korea's alarming announcement that it conducted its fourth nuclear test, the UN Security Council (UNSC) agreed on Wednesday, January 6, that it would consider new measures to punish Pyongyang. Supported by China, North Korea's sole major ally, the 15-member council strongly condemned the test and said it would work on a new UN draft resolution, strengthening several sets of sanctions that have been imposed on the secretive communist regime since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006. The council's announcement was followed a day later by the US, South Korea and Japan pledging to secure a comprehensive, hard-hitting international response. Although many experts doubt Pyongyang's claims that it has successfully tested a "miniaturized" hydrogen or thermonuclear bomb - the explosive yield was reportedly even smaller than that of the North's third nuclear test in 2013 - there has been no independent verification, and this could take days or even weeks to get. But … [Read more...] about Why sanctions have failed to deter North Korea

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential report obtained by news agencies on Friday that by failing to provide information it had promised to make available more than two months ago, Iran had effectively stalled its investigation into Tehran's nuclear activities. "Iran has not provided any explanations that enable the agency to clarify the outstanding practical measures," the report said. The statement referred to specific steps that Iran had pledged to complete by late August, addressing allegations of explosives tests and other activity that could be associated with the development of nuclear weapons. The report also said that there was no reason to believe that Tehran would do so before November 24. That's the deadline agreed by Iran with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, the UK, France, Russia and China - plus Germany to reach a comprehensive deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program in return for a lifting of economic sanctions. … [Read more...] about UN nuclear watchdog says Iran still failing to come clean

Nigerian labor unions representing millions of workers planned the strike to protest against a government decision to raise petrol prices by up to 67 percent, as well as scrapping the country's costly fuel subsidy scheme. It's part of the government's efforts to tackle Nigeria's worst economic crisis in decades. Ministers hoped the move would help to fund fuel imports, as Nigeria's own refinieries have been neglected for years. An earlier attempt to end the subsidies back in 2012 failed after a wave of protests. Alongside the threat of a nationwide strike, militant attacks on oil installations are driving Nigeria's petroleum production and its naira currency to new lows. To find out more, DW spoke to Dr. Aminu Umar, a Nigerian political analyst based in Abuja. DW: What does this mean for Nigeria's oil industry and production? Aminu Umar: It means liberalizing the petroleum sector fully. Over the years, petroleum, which was expected to add value to the average Nigerian, has become a … [Read more...] about Oil has failed to ‘add value to the average Nigerian’

The world has collectively failed in its bid to halt the rapid loss of the planet's species, a milestone UN report found this week. Since the presentation of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 at the United Nations "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro, 168 countries have signed the document. Yet according to the third Global Biodiversity Outlook, no single government has met its full range of ecological protection targets. "The consequences of this collective failure, if it is not quickly corrected, will be severe for us all," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in the report. "Biodiversity underpins the functioning of the ecosystems on which we depend." Dr. Manfred Niekisch, director of the Frankfurt Zoo and a member of the German Advisory Council on the Environment, lamented the conclusions outlined in the UN's latest outlook. "It shows beyond question that we haven't made progress in protecting biological diversity," he said. Climate at a crossroads The third … [Read more...] about The world has failed to curb a dangerous loss of biodiversity, UN report says